November 1, 2021
Demise of Mr Mark Hughes, 1959-2021
Michael Firn

Mark Hughes was a great journalist, a great boss and a great friend.

I first met him in Hong Kong in 1993, when he worked as Chief Reporter for the South China Morning Post and I was at a rival media organisation.

I was struck by his wit, intelligence and mischievous spirit. He had studied Theology at Oxford University and translated the Bible from Greek.

He had worked for the major London broadsheets, the Press Association, the BBC and ITN. He had travelled to Rwanda to cover the genocide, performing magic tricks to distract the soldiers who had pointed guns at his head. His work at the SCMP led the Hong Kong police to capture gangsters and a murderer they had been hunting for months.

Mark had travelled the world and lived in the UK, where he ran a thriving farm while running a newspaper, China where he edited a newspaper and taught journalism, Thailand, where he met his wife. They had a beautiful home in Chiang Mai they had decorated ready for his retirement.

We stayed in touch through the years, working together again at Bloomberg, although in different continents, and it was through him that I came to join Khmer Times in Cambodia.

Mark was with the paper from 2019, running the Business Desk.

He was a constant source of story ideas, mentoring his team of reporters and always trying to make the business pages better.

He was also a great team builder, making sure that we worked together and shared information rather than focussing on our own narrow beats.

I met Mark every morning for a breakfast ‘editorial meeting’ where we would bounce ideas off each other over coffee before sharing a tuktuk to work.

He leaves a great hole in all our lives and boots too big to fill. Our thoughts are with his wife and two daughters.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50962223/d ... 1959-2021/